Simple Ancient Disciplines of the Christian Life

We grow by participating in the simple ancient disciplines of the Christian life. Here’s how we define them at St Peter’s:

1. Learning Holy Scripture, participating attentively in the Liturgy of the Word on Sunday, as well as weekly small group and daily personal Bible Study.

2. Praying daily and worshipping weekly, developing habits of connecting with God and living a more God-centered life.

3. Living in Christian community, allowing oneself to be cared for and accountable and to grow through relational "friction" with others.

4. Offering our lives in stewardship, working toward or exceeding the tithe (10% of income) to build up the Church and advance God's healing reign for the good of the world. 

5. Working in ministry, taking responsibility to use our spiritual gifts to tangibly serve other people in our congregation and in mission outside of the church.

6. Sharing our faith, giving credible witness to Jesus Christ as we have each experienced him; attracting others to a deepening relationship with Jesus.

Purposeful participation in these disciplines changes your life, bringing healing and restoration and wholeness to you and your family. This is how Jesus disciples us and helps us reorder our lives around God’s will and promise for us so we can experience “the life that really is life”.

I suggest that it takes 8 hours a week in these disciplines for a Christian to grow steadily in spiritual maturity. Here’s an approximate breakdown:

• 2-3 hours on Sunday in liturgy, learning and fellowship,
• 2 hours divided into 20 minutes a day for personal prayer and Bible reading,
• 1.5 hours for small group fellowship, study and prayer,
• 1.5 hours serving others in ministry.

Episcopal Lectionary - Here’s a handy place to find the scriptures and collect we read each Sunday. Note that at St. Peter's, we use the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL.)  Also covers feast days.

Daily Office - Prayers and scriptures readings for every day of the week.  Includes the order for morning and evening prayer for each day. Also information on saints for each day.

The Book of Common Prayer - The complete text in several formats. Also versions from other countries and other times in history. Even offers translations of several of these into various languages. 

My Utmost for His Highest - A classic daily devotional and great favorite for many people by the Scottish Author Oswald Chambers.

Oremus - A resource the offers daily prayer and a variety of prayer resources.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library - A large and growing library of Christian writings in the public domain. Some are also available for your PDA or as audio books.

Hymnals - This online collection of searchable hymnals contains texts and MIDI files of tunes used in much of the English-speaking world, with particular emphasis on the Anglican tradition.

Bible Gateway - Look up passages of scripture in many different translations.

C. S. Lewis Institute - The Institute endeavors to develop disciples who can articulate, defend, and live faith in Christ through personal and public living.